Xutian Thunder

After a fierce exchange, an unexpected scene unfolded. Amid the clash, a sharp crack rang out, signaling that a talisman treasure had exhausted its power and shattered completely. And the first talisman treasure to be destroyed was unexpectedly the handsome youth's black hammer! Though Qin Sang's blue mirror was much dimmer than when the fight began, it still held out. The handsome youth froze in disbelief. He had never imagined his own talisman treasure would be the first to deplete its power. One had to realize his talisman treasure had only been used twice, while Qin Sang's blue mirror had clearly been deployed far more often. This surprise nearly made the handsome youth lose his footing. In a fluster, he reached into his mustard seed bag and pulled out another talisman. The moment the black hammer broke, Qin Sang's eyes lit up. He knew his opportunity had arrived. Seeing the handsome youth scramble and actually pull out another talisman treasure, Qin Sang felt a flicker of disdain in his eyes. Combat was like fire. With his opponent pressing him at every step, how could Qin Sang possibly grant him the time needed to prepare a talisman treasure? Unless he possessed some special technique to buy time, it was utterly impossible. The blue mirror talisman treasure had very little power remaining. If the youth simply kept his composure and used other magic tools to weather this stretch, the moment the talisman treasure broke, the two would be back on equal footing. The handsome youth possessed no small cultivation and a plethora of treasures; doing so would not have been difficult. No cultivator who had trained in the Luandao Waters for even a year would make such an amateur mistake. "Go!" Qin Sang let out a low bark and maneuvered the blue mirror. It arced through the air in a streak of blue light, lunging in an extraordinarily cunning strike while the handsome youth was still caught off guard. Only then did the handsome youth realize his folly. In a panic, he put away the talisman treasure and hurriedly drew a flying sword, summoning it in haste to intercept the mirror. This flying sword was rather unusual: the forward half of the blade split into two separate tips on the left and right, resembling a fork. Qin Sang had already experienced its power earlier and knew it was in no way inferior to his Cold Metal sword. Just as the blue mirror was about to collide with the flying sword, instead of dodging, the mirror accelerated, shining with brilliant blue radiance as if deliberately crashing into the weapon. *Boom!* The blue mirror shattered into fragments. The flying sword tumbled back through the air with a clatter. One of its bifurcated tips snapped clean off, and a terrifying crack ran down the blade. At the instant of impact, Qin Sang had unleashed every ounce of the talisman treasure's remaining power, aiming to use its dying embers to destroy the youth's flying sword. One had scrambled to react, while the other had plotted the strike in advance. The outcome certainly did not disappoint Qin Sang. The handsome youth turned deathly pale. His spiritual sense was linked to the flying sword, so he inevitably suffered backlash as well. The sword was clearly ruined, and to make matters worse, the Cold Metal sword was already bearing down on him. Qin Sang was hardly satisfied with merely breaking the sword; he had prepared his follow-up long ago. Fortunately, the handsome youth was not foolish to the very end. Ignoring the fallen blade, he hurriedly brought out a treasure mirror that resembled the blue mirror and hurled it forward with all his might. Yet the moment the mirror flew out, a streak of white light locked onto it. Under the magnetic pull of the Yin-Yang Compass, the mirror froze for a fraction of a second. And that briefest hesitation prevented it from blocking the Cold Metal sword in time. *Whoosh!* The sharp sword qi stung the handsome youth's eyes, carrying the stench of death. Terror written across his face, the youth screamed. His protective robe abruptly shattered, releasing a burst of white vapor that shifted him one foot sideways in the nick of time, narrowly evading the fatal strike. *Slash!* The Cold Metal sword grazed his arm, leaving a gash deep enough to bare the bone. The handsome youth shrieked in agony and retreated at top speed, clutching his wound. He glared at Qin Sang with venomous hatred, lingering dread still plastered across his face. *Another top-grade magic tool? You might as well rename yourself Daoist Many Treasures,* Qin Sang sighed internally. Failing to kill the handsome youth with that strike did not discourage Qin Sang in the slightest. Keeping a calm mindset, he recalled his ebony sword and pressed forward step by step, steadily constricting the youth's room to maneuver. As the saying went, one misstep leads to a hundred more. With Qin Sang holding every advantage, the handsome youth could only dodge in flustered desperation, his situation growing direr by the second. After dodging a strike, the youth rapidly shifted his footing. For a brief moment, with his back to Qin Sang, his eyes met Yu Shanting's. In that split second, their gazes crossed. The handsome youth's eyes flickered. He lowered his head slightly as a ruthless glint surfaced in his eyes. Before the Cold Metal sword could swing back, he suddenly raised a newly drawn saber high, its blade surging with sharp light as he slashed toward Qin Sang with everything he had. At the same time, the youth's other hand brushed against his waist, and a gray bead dropped into his palm. Qin Sang noticed the youth's bizarre behavior and grew wary. Sweeping his gaze over, he soon spotted the gray bead. The bead was an ash-gray color, no larger than a longan fruit, perfectly round and unblemished. Occasionally, a sliver of silvery-white light flashed across its surface like a thin tendril of lightning. It rested quietly in the youth's palm, looking dull and unassuming, lacking the sharp, domineering aura of ordinary magic tools—utterly unremarkable on the surface. Yet the moment Qin Sang laid eyes on it, his expression changed drastically. This inconspicuous gray bead gave him an intensely dreadful foreboding. Qin Sang had experienced this sensation only a handful of times in his entire life, and every single time had been when he was teetering on the edge of life and death. If the youth were allowed to unleash this gray bead, he might die! Out of nowhere, this thought barged into Qin Sang's mind and took deep root. In that instant, every hair on his body stood on end. Qin Sang's pupils constricted violently as he stared intently at the bead in the youth's hand. His thoughts raced—what in the world was that thing? He had never even heard of it. Then he saw spiritual power surge from the youth's palm, converging toward the gray bead. A look of sheer madness filled the youth's eyes, and a chilling sneer crept onto his face. *I cannot let him release it!* Qin Sang cried out internally. Putting everything else aside, he made his decision in an instant and drove his ebony sword forward without hesitation. Though it seemed complicated, it had all taken place in a fraction of a second. Qin Sang had never lacked decisiveness. Right then, Qin Sang suddenly heard Granny Jing's voice. "Watch out! It's a Xutian Thunder!" A Xutian Thunder! *So that's what it is!* Realization struck Qin Sang. No wonder! It was the Xuling Sect's Xutian Thunder! Qin Sang had first learned of the Xutian Thunder from Shopkeeper Wu, and he had heard occasional rumors about it over the years, but having never seen one in person, he had failed to recognize it. The Xutian Thunder was an expendable magic tool similar to the Profound Yin Thunder, yet its power was countless times greater. It was said to be capable of severely injuring Golden Core cultivators—an utterly terrifying weapon. The Xutian Thunder was the supreme sect-guarding treasure of the Xuling Sect. Rumor had it that even the Xuling Sect had not crafted a true Xutian Thunder in a very long time. Some said the method for refining it had been lost to history, while others claimed the process was simply so grueling that no one in the sect today could accomplish it. In any case, news of a Xutian Thunder appearing in the Lesser Cold Domain had been absent for a long time, and even the Xuling Sect's own disciples rarely mentioned it. Who would have guessed that this handsome youth from the Yuanshen Sect would actually possess one!